The Proposal titled, "Dental Science Research Training Program for Engineers" is a new application submitted in direct response to RFA-RM-04-008, "Short Programs for Interdisciplinary Research from the National Institutes of Health. The Proposal is designed to provide short-term (10-weeks) training opportunities for pre-and post-doctoral engineering students in Dental and Craniofacial Sciences, leading to a new paradigm, "Dental and Craniofacial Bioengineering". The plan calls for 10 Trainees, 8 pre-doctoral and 2 post-doctoral for each of the three years of the Program. The Program is based on the close research collaborations between the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Computing and Engineering (SCE), UMKC School of Dentistry (SOD) and University of Kansas Medical Center Orthopedic Research Laboratory and Hoglund Brain Imaging Center. The Program is highly interdisciplinary by nature, providing pre-and post-doctoral engineering students intense training in a variety of interactive disciplines all related to oral, dental and craniofacial research. Because of the interdisciplinary emphasis of our research and educational programs, we are uniquely positioned to respond effectively to the goal of training a new interdisciplinary workforce in dental and craniofacial bioengineering. Outcome assessments for the program will be provided on three levels: Internal and External Advisory Boards and the Deans of the two participating Schools, SCE and SOD. In addition, the Trainees will provide a self-assessment of their experiences at the end of the program. The impact of this training on the future career paths of a the participants will be assessed through questionnaires that each individual will complete on an annual basis for a minimum of 3 years following completion of the program. The Program Director will also request updated resumes from each of the participants. Information such as academic or industry appointments, publications, grant activities, honors and awards will be recorded in the UMKC SOD database and included in the annual report Ito NIH. Leadership and team-building skills, responsible conduct of research, proposal and report writing, and the development of research methodology will be addressed in seminars as well as reinforced throughout the 10 weeks.